The Doolittle Institute proudly manages the FIRST® LEGO® League programs and the FIRST® Tech Challenge AeroCoast League for Northwest Florida. These hands-on programs and competitions inspire creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving, preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s STEM workforce.
FIRST LEGO League Challenge is an exciting, high-energy event where student teams showcase months of hard work in STEM, teamwork, and innovation. The day typically begins with a team check-in and setup, followed by a series of judged sessions where teams present their Innovation Project, demonstrate their Core Values, and explain their robot design. The highlight of the day is the robot game, where teams compete in timed matches on a themed playing field, using LEGO Spike Prime Robots they’ve designed and programmed to complete missions. Throughout the event, teams are encouraged to collaborate, cheer each other on, and embody the spirit of Gracious Professionalism®. The day ends with an awards ceremony celebrating creativity, perseverance, and engineering excellence. This year’s theme, #Unearthed, challenges teams to identify a problem faced by archaeologists and propose a solution to help address it.
FIRST Tech Challenges is an action-packed experience where middle and high school teams put their engineering, programming, and teamwork skills to the test. The day begins with team check-ins and robot inspections to ensure compliance with game rules. The heart of the event is the robot matches, where alliances of two teams each compete in a dynamic, head-to-head game on a 12’x12’ field. Teams must strategize, adapt, and collaborate in real time. Between matches, teams scout other robots, make repairs, and refine code. Locally, here in the AeroCoast, we have 25 teams this season competing in the DECODE theme.
